The complex phenomenon of colour has received detailed attention from the perspectives of physics, chemistry, physiology, psychology, linguistics and philosophy. However, the people who work most closely with colour - artists - have rarely been canvassed for their opinions on this mysterious subject.

Colour in Art is concerned with the history of colour, but is not itself a history; instead each chapter develops a theme from a different scientific discipline, but seen from the viewpoint of artists such as Kandinsky, Van Gogh and Anish Kapoor.

Flags, synaesthesia, Theosophy, theatre design, chromotherapy and chromophobia are among the many topics covered in this wide-ranging and engaging introduction to the place and power of colour in life and art.